Oscar Piastri swipes Max Verstappen after Grand Prix dive bomb
Oscar Piastri told the world how he really feels with a scathing radio message as world champ Max Verstappen crossed the line
F1
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Oscar Piastri has accepted Max Verstappen’s apology after the world champ wiped the Australian out of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Monday morning (AEDT).
The McLaren driver recovered from the back of the grid to sneak back up to finish tenth in a race that was comfortably controlled by teammate Lando Norris as the Papaya crew sealed their first constructor’s championship since 1998.
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Norris raced home ahead of Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, while Lewis Hamilton climbed up to finish fourth in his final race with Mercedes, before he moves to Ferrari next year.
Piastri said the feeling was bitter-sweet in celebrating the team’s world championship, despite having his day ruined before it really began at the Yas Marina Circuit.
To add another element to Piastri’s mixed feelings, he also wrote himself into the history books by becoming just the fourth driver to complete every lap of a Formula 1 season — joining Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen as the only drivers to have a perfect year.
Verstappen was handed a ten-second penalty by FIA stewards after the Dutch driver produced an old fashion “dive bomb” on the 23-year-old Aussie.
The Red Bull champ tried to sneak on the inside of Piastri at Turn 1 after coming across the track to challenge Piastri, who started from P2 on the grid, for the racing line.
It ended disastrously for both drivers with Verstappen nudging into the side of Piastri’s car — sending both of them spinning out.
It was Piastri who came off worse, while Verstappen was quickly back up to 11th.
Piastri told the world how he really feels when sending his team a message on his radio.
“Yep, move of a world champion there,” he said, dripping with sarcasm.
When the news came through that Verstappen had been handed a penalty, Piastri responded to his team by saying, “Good”.
Verstappen, however, was clearly unhappy about the penalty and told his team bluntly: “Could we ask for 20 seconds? Stupid idiots”.
In a rare scene, Verstappen owned up to the mistake and made the effort to find Piastri after the race to apologise.
Verstappen’s punishment included a two-point hit on his licence, taking him to eight in the last 12 months. If he reaches 12 within a year, he will be given an automatic ban.
For Verstappen, who finished sixth, this means he must avoid penalties in the opening 11 races next season.
“Honestly, I don’t want to talk about it,” said Verstappen.
“I’m just happy that the season is over. For me, the most important thing that I had to do was just apologise to Oscar.
“Because I had nothing to gain, nothing to lose. I went for it. It didn’t work out. And especially also for him, that we both spun. It’s not nice. He’s a friend of mine so I don’t want to have any weird feelings or whatever going into the break.”
Piastri said he wanted to focus more on his team’s title victory than the incident with Verstappen.
“Probably yes,” he said when asked if Verstappen had gone into the corner too “optimistically”.
“But he came and apologised straight away and the stewards deemed it was a penalty.
“We go again next year. Obviously it was a tough race from then on, but again, we achieved our main target and that’s what matters.”
F1 guru Martin Brundle said it “wasn’t necessary” for Verstappen to attempt the move.
“It’s so unfair of Max wasn’t it. They are not in the championship. He’s won his championship,” he said on Sky Sports.
“To put such a risky move, I know it’s the first lap of a Grand Prix, there was a gap, Piastri would he know he would lunge like that?
“It just wasn’t necessary and hasn’t done Verstappen any good either.”
To add further insult, Piastri also had to serve a 10-second penalty for an early tussle with Franco Colapinto.
The day, however, belonged to McLaren and Norris.
“It feels incredible,” said the driver born in 1999, one year after McLaren’s last constructors’ crown.
“Not for myself, but for the whole team. The team has done an amazing job this year to come from where we were at the beginning. I am so proud of everyone.
“It has been a lovely journey and so to end the season like this is perfect. A congrats and big thank you to everyone at McLaren.”
McLaren won their title by 14 points from Ferrari whose challenge was finally subdued on a night of accidents, penalties and tantrums.
McLaren ended the season on 666 points ahead of Ferrari on 652 and Red Bull on 589. Mercedes finished fourth on 468 and Aston Martin were fifth with 94.
“Papaya on top!” said Norris on his slowdown lap in his orange-yellow car.
“Congrats to everyone. Incredible. So proud of you all. You all deserve this. It’s been a special one. Next year is going to be my year too.”
Hamilton, 39, marked the end of his 12 years at Mercedes with a rousing and memorable drive from his record 246th start with the team and spun his car in a series of ‘donuts’ to celebrate at the end.
— with AFP
Originally published as Oscar Piastri swipes Max Verstappen after Grand Prix dive bomb
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